1 | Hair color inheritance

3.5 minutesNew information about the inheritance of red hair shows that there's a lot more to it than just having two copies of the red-hair version of the gene MC1R. A lot more. Maybe its not just polygenic, but perhaps omnigenic.

3 | Building body maps

3 minutesIt turns out that all that kicking inside the uterus during the last trimester of pregnancy has a role in the mapping of our body in the somatosensory cortex.

Babies kicking in the womb are creating a map of their bodies (summary of the update; includes videos) my-ap.us/2A0t8jv

Newborn babies' brain responses to being touched on the face measured for the first time (some related news) my-ap.us/2zWX3ZI

Developmental trajectory of movement-related cortical oscillations during active sleep in a cross-sectional cohort of pre-term and full-term human infants (the research article in Scientific Reports) my-ap.us/2A0lcib

4 | Preview episodes

1.5 minutesIf you haven't been listening to the preview episodes released shortly before each full episode, try them out! Then let me know what you think.

5 | Sponsored by HAPS

0.5 minutesThe Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) is a sponsor of this podcast. Did you know there's a one-day regional HAPS conference in March? Check it out. You can help appreciate their support by clicking the link below and checking out the many resources and benefits found there.Anatomy & Physiology Society | theAPprofessor.org/haps

6 | Test frequency in the A&P course

13.5 minutesListener Krista Rompolski calls in and asks Kevin for his opinion on the best frequency of tests for the undergraduate A&P course.Here are some previous episodes outlining Kevin's testing practices (and why he does it that way):

The Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) is a sponsor of this podcast. Did you know there's a reduced "early bird" registration rate for the annual HAPS confercnce in Portland OR next May? Check it out. You can help appreciate their support by clicking the link below and checking out the many resources and benefits found there.

Follow one of my links (or some other hyperlink) and it takes you to journal article that's behind a paywall? Kevin explains a legal, ethical way to access the full article with no costs to you. You'll have to listen to hear this super secret trick!

5 | Sponsored by AAA0.5 minute

The searchable transcript for this episode, as well as the captioned audiogram of this episode, are sponsored by The American Association of Anatomists (AAA) at anatomy.org

Kevin's Theory of Test Anxiety states that we are ALL subject to test anxiety. Perhaps occasionally. Perhaps often. In any case, it can affect our ability to retrieve and apply the information we've practiced and thereby affect our performance—and score—on a test or exam. Sometimes significantly. What, if anything, can be done to avoid text anxiety or manage it once it strikes? What can teachers do? What can students do? Well, here's a place to start!

The Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) is a sponsor of this podcast. Did you know there's a reduced "early bird" registration rate for the annual HAPS confercnce in Portland OR next May? Check it out. You can help appreciate their support by clicking the link below and checking out the many resources and benefits found there.

Kevin's experience in zoos, circuses, and on safari in Africa form the basis of some elephant stories he tells in his A&P courses to emphasize some concepts of the integumentary system. In this episode, he shares some elephant research updates, then goes into how elephant skin can help us better understand the thermoregulatory function of human skin. The images show Kevin (on ground in dark suit) and his elephant friend Flora, the retired namesake of Circus Flora. The anterior and posterior sides of Flora's ears pictured are referred to in Kevin' stories (you may use these images in your teaching with attribution).

Image of the Day: Swish Swish | Animals’ tails swat away insects using both wind and whack. (video and animation of the "double pendulum" pattern of elephant tails) https://my-ap.us/2zgjuZQ

Discerning Elephants | Elephants are able to tell human voices apart based on cues for age, sex, and ethnic group. (summary of research) https://my-ap.us/2zeeRzk

Elephants can determine ethnicity, gender, and age from acoustic cues in human voices (journal article with full details of the research) https://my-ap.us/2zhwIoY

Elephants Revived a “Zombie” Gene that May Fend Off Cancer (summary of research about gene that may protect elephants from cancer) https://my-ap.us/2zodgar

A Zombie LIF Gene in Elephants Is Upregulated by TP53 to Induce Apoptosis in Response to DNA Damage (research article about cancer-protective gene in elephants) https://my-ap.us/2zi2qT5

Why Elephants Don’t Shed Their Skin | The cracks in African elephants’ skin help them keep cool and stay healthy. A new explanation for how those cracks form could offer insights into treating a human skin disease. (brief summary article) https://my-ap.us/2zgIuQC

Locally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin (full research article which includes some cool histology images) https://my-ap.us/2zetSBl